Whoa! 2 months and no word from you??

When I say "no word from YOU", I mean "no word from ME."  I'm that person - the one who starts a blog to keep friends and family updated about my cute and adorable baby, then forgets about it because I'm a level of lazy I can't even describe.

On the topic of laziness, let me just say... I have a million really cute pictures of Eva I could post here, but it takes so long to upload them.  Just know that the pictures exist.  And Eva is cute.  Really cute.

Updates on the Baby Bosh:

1. She is "crawling".  Army crawling really - laying on belly, pull with arms, push with legs/knees.  She isn't coordinated enough for the real sort yet, but she has shown she can do it.
2. She can pull up on things, but usually just to her knees.  Pulling to standing still elicits cheers, so it's not down firm yet.
3. We've baby-proofed most things, and that's always what she goes for first.  The foam padding on the fireplace?  Her new chew toy.  The outlet covers?  Apparently the best texture since sliced bread.
4. We're working HARD on solids.  She's not eating a lot, but we're getting there.  Three meals a day.
5. I bought her a baby tunnel/tent from Ikea which she is currently crawling around in.  Super cute.  Pictures of it do not exist yet, but I could pretend they did as I have no intention of posting any pictures right now anyways.
6. She is officially 8 months.  

Updates about Family Bosh:

1. Yaniv's business is going well.  Check it out - Model2Web.  
2. Yaniv turned 30 on July 25.  Happy birthday, honey!
3. I'm still doing baby groups.  I've realized that although Eva enjoys them, they are 95% for me.  I really feel lucky to have met so many great women.

And to leave on a positive note, ONE picture.

Eva at 6 Months

At birth, Eva was 7lb, 1oz and 20".

She is now 16lb, 13oz and 27".

For every inch she grew, she's gained about a million personality points.  I will dedicate today's post to The Saga of the Cell Phone.

One day there was a little girl who really loved her clothing.  And by loving her clothing, I really mean she loved pulling her clothing up and off as often as possible.  Often she was so distracted by playing with her clothing she didn't even notice the great toys surrounding her.

Sometimes she would look around and see a toy that wasn't really a toy.  Same category as her clothing, I guess.  On this particular day, Eva decided Mommy's cell phone was a toy.

Then she decided Mommy's cell phone was a hamburger.

With all the news about cell phones and radiation and brain tumors, Mommy took said phone away.  Eva used her powers of persuasion to convince her mother that the world might have to come to an end if the cell phone were not returned.  

 Then she found her fist.

Lazy Me

I'll be honest, I'm getting lazy.

As such, I probably won't update here as often as I'd like.  Instead, I'm going to start uploading all the videos we shoot to YouTube.  That way the pictures narrate themselves, and I can take it easy.

Baby Bosh on YouTube.

Three Firsts

#1

Eva ate carrots, and then the carrots ate Eva.  She wasn't a fan.

#2

Eva got sunglasses and looks sooooo cool.

 #3
Eva has learned how to completely mug for the camera.

Reflections on a First Mother's Day

You know how as you reach each new stage in life, you realize all those "jokes" they make in sitcoms are actually based on reality?

For example: You always think people complaining about birthdays just being anti-climactic after a certain age is silly - birthdays are ALWAYS fun.  And then you turn 24.  And 25.  And you're just not excited about it anymore.

Or: You're 25 and all you think about are your wrinkles and your impending 30s.  And then you're 30 and you realize how few wrinkles you had and how young you really were.

Or: The wife on Everybody Loves Raymond seems like such a *B* word, until suddenly you are the wife having to mother your husband who just doesn't realize all the stuff he's missing.  Like the dishes.  Or the underwear by the bed.  Or whatever.  And now you're the *B* word.

Or: Those Kleenex boxes your mother kept by the sofa while watching movies always annoyed the heck out of you.  And then you have your first child and EVERY television show, commercial, or song about parenthood or babies makes you tear up and cry like a little girl.

Or: Babies eat everything.

Or: It's your first Mother's Day, and all those sitcoms you'd get so annoyed by because all they talked about was how Mother's Day always sucks because the only people who plan anything are mothers - so there is no one to plan Mother's Day.  Father's Day is awesome because - duh - mothers plan it!

But it's so true.  Yaniv actually said to me today, "Doesn't Eva do the stuff for Mother's Day?  I mean, you're her mother, right?" And he wasn't kidding.  He actually thought the kid gave the gift or whatever.  Yes, my 5-month-old is going to give me a gift tomorrow of her own volition.  :)

And then I look back at my own history of Parents' Days.  I NEVER did anything for them because no one ever told me to or made a big deal of it.  Mom was always so low key about it.

Well, I'm not low key.  I guess that means I may be pitching fits for the next 8 years while I train my family, however large or small it may be, to treat me like a queen on Mother's Day.

Or at least let me sleep for 8 hours some night!

BTW - I love you, Mom.  Thanks for always being there for me and dealing with my drama, even when it was aimed your way.  I am really lucky to have you as an example.  But stop joking about how horrible a kid I was - it's going to make me cry.

Fun with Paper

Have you seen the YouTube video of the kid ripping paper?

I totally tried it with Eva.  She didn't really get it, but she seemed to enjoy munching on it instead.

 We also made her a wig.  I was getting a little bored of her bald head.

I don't think she appreciated her new hairstyle too much.

Eva's Two New Skills

Eva has two new skills.

First Skill: She has learned utter amazement and the corresponding facial expressions.  This may not seem like a big deal, but that face shows up all the time lately.  Milo barks, Eva's amazed.  Mommy shows her flowers, Eva's amazed.  A mirror, Eva's amazed.  Ribbons, Eva's amazed.

And last week was: Fish, Eva's amazed.

To be fair, I had the same look on my face most of the time.  Those aquariums were AWESOME!  If you have a kid, live in Houston, and don't want to pay $12 to look at fish, visit Fish Gallery.  They have beautiful displays and leather couches for chillaxing.

Second Skill: Eva can sit unsupported.  Yay!

Of course, she seems to believe sitting unsupported is the best way to make out with Milo.

The skill she STILL hasn't learned?  Rolling over.  I think I need to enroll her in classes.

The Sleepy Pictures

I'm not great about keeping a naptime.  Because so many people advocate baby-led nursing, I've decided to try baby-led napping.  Of course, all that really means is letting Eva get tired enough that she gets fussy and then randomly passes out.  

Case in point:

Yes, she's adorable.

Passover Seder was more like Mommy-is-forcably-keeping-you-awake sleeping.  We only stayed until 7:15pm, well before most Seders even begin, but it was already 45 minutes past her normal bedtime and she was nearly falling asleep at the table.

See those precious drooping eyelids?  But hey, we got a picture of her first Seder, so mission accomplished and move on!

A Playroom with Personality

As some of you know, one of my many incarnations in the past few years was as an affordable interior re-designer.  You know, use that you have and add a few inexpensive items to make the space more complete.

I've wanted to make the sunroom feel like a real room for a while, but I never knew what I wanted to do with it.  I needed a pull out sofa for guests, but I always thought I'd turn the room into an office for Yaniv.  Once Eva arrived, bringing with her a million toys because I can't help myself, I realized the real purpose of the room should be a playroom.

And our journey began...

The playroom was painted purple and carpeted when we bought the house in 2008.  It was a sunporch that had been walled in sometime before, but it really wasn't integrated with the rest of the house.  There was a window between the family room and the sunroom, and the door connecting the rooms was an exterior style door.

In 2009, we finished our remodel.  We removed the window and replaced it with a sliding glass door, walling in the old door.  We laid travertine stone flooring and painted the walls a light beige.  A few small changes made the room feel new.  However, I still had no purpose for the room.  These picture are from just after it was finished and we were using it as a transition space from the pool to the indoors.  We also used the room as my office for most of 2010.

This is the floor plan I kept obsessing over.  Half the room would be a small pull out sofa, and the other half would be for the playthings.

I wanted the room to be playful so it would be a good PLAYroom.  I also wanted it to be neutral enough to mature with Eva.  Had to have the sofa bed, and I wanted a rug with a thick enough pile Eva could topple over on it and not get hurt.

And how we actually use the sofa side:

What we bought:

• Ikea Lack End Table - $8
• Ikea Pink Flower Poster - $10
• Ikea Decorative Pillow - $12
• Ikea Lack Coffee Table - $25
• Ikea Malm Wall Shelving - $40 (3 pieces)
• WalMart Zebra Hometrends Rug - $124
• Ikea Solsta Sofa - $148
• (Everything else was already in the room or items we repurposed for the room.)

Total: $358

He Found Them

Yes, you read that right.  Yaniv found my uber-tasty cookies.  Not by reading my blog, but by sitting in my pumping chair and using my laptop.

:/

That's my serious emoticon.  Seriously annoyed.

Long time, no see.

It's been a while since I've updated.  It's not that I'm not on the computer - I have basically lived on the computer for the past 3 weeks.  Just not in a happy way.

I've hit a bump in the breastfeeding road.  Low supply led to pumping and bottle feeding led to Eva refusing to breast feed led to OMG-I-have-no-time-because-I'm-ALWAYS-pumping.   I've finally created a decent schedule, so I'm getting a life back, but since I'm so committed to making sure Eva gets only breast milk until 6 months, I have another 32 days of heck ahead of me.  Of course, it's heck with a cute smile!

I'd like to thank my friend, Sara, for her invaluable advice and support.  Also, I found a GREAT baby board on BabyCenter.com with wonderful ladies who all pump at work.  They know I'm a SAHM, and I haven't been kicked off yet!

I wish there was more to update, but we haven't done a lot.  I've started going to Tot Shabbat at the JCC down the road, which is really fun because Eva LOVES music.  And we met friends for lunch a few days ago.  But otherwise, life is pretty much filled with pumping, baby groups, and sleeping.

I'm going to make a test right now to see if Yaniv reads my blog.  See, I've become a master baker in the past few months, and tonight Yaniv wanted some of my uber-tasty cookies.  I, however, hid them.  (And yes, we are bad Jews who eat super leavened bread during Passover.)  Now, I hid them under my chair in Eva's playroom, but he will only know that if he reads my blog.  Otherwise, I have a perfect hiding place he will never find.  Moo-hahhahaha.

I shall leave you with pictures of our beautiful family.

Tuesdays with Babies

My title is supposed to be a pun on Tuesdays with Maury, but as that's not sure a popular novel anymore, I'm not sure anyone would catch on...

But seriously, every other Tuesday I have another baby group for Eva to play with.  It's a larger and more varied group than Wednesday, but still feel intimate and friendly.  I've actually met some really amazing women, and hopefully Eva will make some real baby friends once she more aware of others.

We went to the Ima Hogg mansion at Bayou Bend a few weeks ago.  Erica, the group leader, was smart enough to bring along blankets so the babies could play with each other for a while.  The flowers weren't in bloom any longer, but it was a beautiful day.

 Before we left, we lined everyone up and took a group picture (of everyone who came... we were missing ~3 mommies and their kiddos).  It's so fun seeing how much the babies have already grown in the past three months.  I can't wait to look back at these pictures in a few years and realize the remarkable changes that happen while life runs its course.

Eva's First Bite

For about 2 weeks we've been dealing with Eva constantly grabbing our food.  Today I ate a peanut butter sandwich and spent most of the time avoiding her little claw of death.  We started a bottle and had about 1oz left, and I decided rather than throwing it out, we should make Eva's first taste of solid food.

I mixed rice cereal with breast milk (a 1:20 ratio), and yelled for Yaniv to film our experience and take photos.  He was just as excited as I was, so he came running!

I wasn't sure how she'd take the first spoon fed meal, but she LOVED it.  And she stayed clean, so Mommy was extra proud.  I've never seen a baby understand the concept of opening wide for the spoon and then keeping most of the food inside her mouth so well.  She's a food genius.  She gets it from Yaniv and I - we're both big eaters!

First Date Night (the unpublished drafts!)

Another half-written post... I don't know how I do this!  Anyhow, it's from about a month ago.  Enjoy!

Okay, so this is a little overdue as our first date night was 3 weeks ago (edit: actually ~7 weeks!), but I wanted to post a picture and let everyone know that, yes, we do get out of the house for a few hours alone sometimes.

The night of our first date we went to a party in Bellaire.  The host actually had llamas in his backyard!  

Always room for one more...

Every time I am ready to congratulate myself for finally reaching a place with Eva where I'm comfortable and not worried, something new comes up.  I think it's half new-mom-syndrome, half bad luck.

So here's the deal: Eva hasn't gained weight in about 3 weeks.  She's not losing weight, but she's not gaining, either.  It's as if she decided that she doubled her birth weight two months early, so she's done.  The thing is, I wouldn't even know the issue exists except we have an AMAZING baby scale that is perfectly accurate to 0.5 ounces, which of course I'm checking every day now.  Sometimes every feed.  Jeeze.

But she doesn't seem malnourished.  She active, playful, funny, sleeps well, and is actually LESS fussy than before.  Does she look anything other than her normal self??  Minus some plumpness...

Anyhow, the doctor thinks my supply is low, which makes sense because Eva has been battling allergies, a cough, fever from shots, etc... for about a month now, so she probably didn't feel great about eating.  Now that her appetite is back, I just don't have enough for her.  Way to make a mommy feel like crud, Eva.

I rented a hospital grade pump for a few weeks, and I'm having to drink like a fish (water, not wine), actually make time to eat, try to get Eva to take a bottle, and pump after every feeding.

That means my day basically looks like this:

• Wake up
• Nurse (15 minutes)
• Pump (20 minutes)
• Bottle (15 minutes)
• Wash dishes (5 minutes)
• Play (30-60 minutes)
• Nurse (5 minutes)
• Nap

And that cycle repeats 8 times during the day, 2 times at night.  OMG I need a life.  Hopefully my supply will come back in the next week and I can leave the house without freaking out that I have to be back in 60 minutes!

First Fever - Check

Eva had her first fever last week.  We took her in for her routine 4 month vaccines, and she seemed to hardly notice them - at first.

Then 3:30am came, and I went in to feed her like I always do.  She was hot.  Crazy hot.  I remember my mom telling me how you know when your baby has a fever just by touching her, and it's so true.  We took her temperature and it was 102.7.  Obviously we doused her up with Tylenol, and called the doctor, and a million other things that woke her-miserable-self up enough that she didn't go back to sleeping until 5:30am.

I was a tired mommy the next day, but we took a couple of cool baths together and cuddled a lot.

She wasn't extra fussy from the fever (it's harder to be fussier than her normal base line), but she was definitly extra sleepy acting.  Fortunately her fever, although happening at the same time as her horrible allergies, was temporary.  The next day we kept up with her Tylenol doses, and by 10pm the fever was gone.

All-in-all, I'm glad her first sickness was something semi-predictable.  We knew it would go down within a day or two, and we knew she wasn't super sick.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have a baby with a real illness, or even a real cold.  Eva was kind and gave me a practice run so that, next time she gets sick, I'll be as prepared as I can be.

2nd Anniversary

Two years married, eight years together, ten point five years since we met.  Wow, time flies.

We went to Courtyard St. James for lunch, as I plan on doing every year, and ate our meal 5 feet from where we said our vows.  Eva was a little fussy and it was crazy windy, but pleasant nonetheless.

Yaniv bought me a MacBook Air because, as he said, I've never talked about wanting something so much for so long, even if it is from a company I despise.

I got him a family membership to the zoo because he always wants to go, but apparently he thought it was lame.  I made him wander the zoo after lunch anyways.  The only animals Eva cared about were the fish, but it was nice for her to get fresh air.

Later, Yaniv brought the zoo home and caught an opossum in our backyard.

Finally, we ended the evening with a romantic dinner at our favorite upscale sushi place.  It was the first time we'd eaten out without Eva, but I think we were both so tired we weren't able to fully enjoy it.  I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the saki.

Winning Friends and Influencing Babies

Eva is on her way to becoming President, the first time it could be possible on the Boshernitzan side.  Who thought I'd give birth to a first generation American??

So, how is she on her way to becoming President, you ask?  The answer is simple: networking.  Eva has made 4 good friends.  Ayla, Caleb, Leo, and Noa.  Yeah, they're in the partying phase right now, rolling around on blankets and all.  But give them a few years and they'll be the next Greenspan, the next Clinton, the next Obama, the next Hawking etc...  

Our Backyard and Its Wonders

We're working on landscaping, and although we started mulching 3 weeks ago, we still haven't finished.  However, even though our yard isn't in its normal glorious form, it is being visited by magical creatures like a baby owl.  

One morning, Yaniv went to check on the pool, and for a moment he glanced into the palm tree.  There it was - a tiny baby owl.  He thought it was dead or sick and planned on adopting it, but as soon as he went to move the branch to reach the owl, it flew away!

The thing that is really keeping us from finishing the landscaping is not our owl infestation, but Yaniv's obsession with building an herb garden!  So he went to Home Depot, bought wood, and spent 2 hours screwing it together, filling it with dirt, and planting herbs.  All in the dark.  Because he couldn't wait till morning.  : |  This is my stern, serious writing tone. 

It did come out beautifully, though, so I'm not actually complaining.

March Madness

We're working with Eva on forming a sleeping schedule.  All other schedules are pretty much baby led since I'm too "driven" to follow a schedule during the day.  

It's like this:

• 6:30pm: story time + bath + full feeding
• 7pm: bedtime
• 10:15pm: full feeding
• 3am: short feeding
• 7am: wake up

Obviously bath time is my favorite part, even though Daddy gets the honors.

Of course, if you asked Eva, it's the schedule above plus waking up at 2am and 5am for at least half an hour, talking to herself, turning around in her crib to look at her soother, getting out of her swaddle, and other general non-sleeping activities while Mommy ignores the monitor.

We are still working on tummy time and rolling over.  The tummy time is getting longer and more productive, although Eva views it as eating hands/carpet time.  The rolling over... well, she's done it 4 times, starting at 2 months, but none in the last 3 weeks.  So we're still waiting on that one.

Crafty Mommy

I wrote this a month ago and forgot to post it!  So here goes....

I recently joined a playgroup for Eva.  Yaniv questioned how much babies can even play with one another at this age, but as all moms know, playgroups are for us.

One of the moms in the group lives really close to me, and last week she invited me over to try our hands at a craft.  Her son behaved perfectly while Eva screamed and cried because it was nap time, or because she is having a growth spurt, or because she is just crazy.  Whatever the reason, Luke showed her up big time and I had to leave early.

For our craft, we used toilet paper rolls, paint, glue, wooden balls, string, wrapping paper and twigs.  The other mommy was kind enough to provide the supplies and do most of my work while I tried to comfort screaming Eva.  In the end, we made delightful mobiles which we agreed have no place above a crib where they pose a horrible choking/breaking hazard.  Mine became a cute wall hanging.